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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24383593">A Soft Blue Glow</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ba_lailah/pseuds/ba_lailah'>ba_lailah</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Quests, The Real Magic Is Talking About Your Feelings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 02:01:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,092</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24383593</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ba_lailah/pseuds/ba_lailah</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>King Gilbert and General Armand travel to the Nightwood to ask an important favor of the Nightwitch. It doesn't go quite how they expect.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>OMC/OMC, Widowed King with Children/His Loyal General</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Writing Rainbow Make Up Round, Writing Rainbow: Blue</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Soft Blue Glow</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Plaid_Slytherin/gifts">The_Plaid_Slytherin</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>King Gilbert and General Armand returned to the Nightwitch's cabin only a day after they had left, but in that day, everything had changed. Armand could feel it in both of them—a deep understanding that went beyond the camaraderie of soldiers in the field, a respect that went beyond loyalty and honor.</p><p>The Nightwitch met them at the door and took their cloaks, which were both the worse for wear. Armand smiled at the grass stains on the king's fine wool; they brought up many pleasant memories.</p><p>The Nightwitch looked between them. "I see your quest was successful," he said. "Show me what you've found."</p><p>Gilbert unslung his pack and seated himself at the table, with Armand standing behind him. As Gilbert loosened the pack's drawstring, the Nightwitch held up a hand. "For each item I instructed you to find, there must be a story of how you found it," he said. "Tell me those stories."</p><p>"Oh yes, indeed, stories there are," Gilbert said, laughing. Armand hadn't heard him laugh once in his year of mourning for Lucien, and was thrilled to hear it now. "Well then. First, the vial of water from the Quiet Lake. Which I fell into, because—if I am being honest—I was too busy looking at Armand's handsome reflection to watch where I was going."</p><p>"And I jumped in to get him out," Armand said, grinning. "Only to learn it was a mere three feet deep."</p><p>"And then we were both very wet, and had to hang our clothes up on branches to dry." Gilbert unwrapped a sheet of bark with four long, wicked thorns driven through it. "Which is how we found the thorn bush."</p><p>"I found it," Armand corrected him. "Fortunately mostly with my arms and hands. We had nothing better to do than wait around for our clothes to dry, so my liege kindly rubbed salve into the scratches." He elected not to mention the tension that had arisen between them as they sat naked on the king's cloak, Gilbert capably and gently caressing Armand's wounded arms until the stinging faded into more warmth than could strictly be attributed to the healing herbs in the salve. </p><p>Gilbert also elided that part. "But while I was getting our clothes down," he said, "I managed to get more thorn branches tangled in my hair, so we sat a while longer and Armand untangled them. I told him just to cut it."</p><p>"I would sooner cut off my hand," Armand said, only exaggerating slightly. He had greatly enjoyed running his hands through Gilbert's hair for an hour, a liberty he would never have dared to take with his king had the situation not demanded it.</p><p>"We pressed onward and obtained a drop of sap from the maw of the tangle tree," Gilbert said, setting another vial on the table. "You might have warned us that the only way to reach that maw was to let the tree try to eat us."</p><p>"Oh dear," the Nightwitch said, "I did forget to mention that. I apologize."</p><p>"Well, we figured it out quickly enough. I got the vial ready and then stepped within the tree's reach. It grabbed me and brought me up to its maw, where I collected the sap, and then Armand let himself get snagged as well so he could cut us both free. Except the vines went right for his sword arm, so that was a bit more trouble than we expected."</p><p>Armand tightened his grip on Gilbert's chair. The tree had greedily tried to eat them both at once, pressing them tightly together with its entwining vines, and if they hadn't been in considerable danger, Armand would have found this extremely pleasant. He'd almost been reluctant to work his arm free and cut them loose. </p><p>He caught the Nightwitch giving him a knowing look and wondered whether the man knew just how much they were leaving out of their account.</p><p>"We didn't really know whether it was properly nighttime, since, well, it's the Nightwood," Gilbert said, "but we were tired, so we decided it was as good a time as any to rest, and took turns sleeping and sitting up on watch, though nothing tried to bother us. It was unnerving to wake up still in the dark, with only that glowing moss to light our way."</p><p>"I'm looking forward to sunlight again," Armand said.</p><p>There was a little pause.</p><p>"You did have one more item to obtain," the Nightwitch prompted them. "A moonflower."</p><p>"Ah," the king said, clearing his throat. "Yes."</p><p>"Surely you didn't forget?"</p><p>"No, no, it's right here." Gilbert opened a small wooden box. Inside it was one perfect blue blossom that seemed lit from within, its eerie glow visible even in the well-lit cabin. Its scent also had not faded, and Armand breathed it in, feeling tingles run down his back. Without meaning to, he let go of the chair and rested his hands on Gilbert's shoulders instead.</p><p>"It was... quite something, finding a whole field of these," Gilbert said softly. "The light, the scent... we were overcome." He looked up at Armand, who gently squeezed his shoulders. "In the light from the flowers, I thought nothing could be more beautiful than Armand's face."</p><p>Armand nodded, unable to find words for what he had seen in his king's eyes at that moment.</p><p>"I confess, I thought the flowers had put us under some sort of spell," Gilbert said. He reached up and took Armand's hand. "But when we stumbled out of the field at last, the feelings remained."</p><p>"They had been there before," Armand said. "If there was any magic, it was only that we suddenly felt allowed to speak of them. To act on them."</p><p>"So that is everything on your list," Gilbert said, reluctantly letting go of Armand's hand so he could close the box and hand it to the Nightwitch, who was watching them with a little smile. "And now I think we will be on our way back to Château Arc-en-Ciel."</p><p>The Nightwitch raised an eyebrow. "But what about what you came for?"</p><p>The king paused, half out of his seat. "Hm?"</p><p>"The favor you came to ask of me," the Nightwitch said. "The spell to tell you which of your suitors should become your new husband, to help you rule your kingdom and raise your daughters. The spell for which these are the components."</p><p>"Oh," Gilbert said. "Well, it worked, didn't it?"</p><p>He took Armand's hand again, and they went to saddle their horses.</p>
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